I went into Oblivion with expectations built by Morrowind. And they were pretty thoroughly violated by the time I was done. None of the systems were as finessed or designed to last. The caves were one stupid copty/pasta job after another. So were the Aeylid Ruins. So were the ruined forts. So was [every other set piece used in Oblivion]. The vast majority of quests were forgettable, and more effort went into the first batch of quests you do in the main city (other than the Guild quests) than anything else, that going through the middle part of the game and its content must have been the most boring thing I did in that game. The Oblivion Gates, ostensibly the whole focus of the story line, where literally just another kind of mini-dungeon with the same routine every time.
Oblivion came out years and years ago, and by now we have plenty more to compare it to. How about Fallout 3? Which was even more of a train wreck mechanically than Oblivion. Or New Vegas, which is still a mechanical train wreck but at least the stories don't suck? Did it ever strike anyone as slightly wrong that Bethesda was able to graft its own Stat/Skill system to Fallout's systems in a snap, that the difference between Oblivion and Fallout mechanics is almost in name only?
It has diddly to do with our expectations and much to do with our now decade long experience with Bethesda. There is absolutely no reason ANYONE who has played Morrowind --> Oblivion --> Fallout --> New Vegas should be expecting revolutionary things out of Skryim, and they should be expecting a fair dose of "How my game got simple."
Seriously. Bethesda only cares about your first two hours of game. Beyond that, they don't care if every single system from the leveling curves to the gear distribution falls off the rails. You bought the game, you'll mod it. All they care about is whether or not you got enough in your first two hours of play NOT to run out to the internet to flame the shit out of them.
Hey, I certainly prefer Oblivion to Morrowind, discounting graphics. Morrowind was horribly buggy, I wasn't too fond of the setting, and the storyline and gameplay didn't seem very exciting at all.
But then, many people love Morrowind, so that's just my opinion.
I agree. Expect that Morrowind was designed to last. Oblivion was designed to be "finished" in a few days. Fallout 3 was even worse in that regard.